Star comment: Evil man preyed on his patients
Disgraced Ian Paterson was accused of ‘playing God’ when he convinced petrified patients to have breast surgery they did not need.
The twisted 59-year-old carried out unnecessary operations on victims after he exaggerated or invented the risk of cancer.
He has now been jailed for 15 years after he was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding against 10 private patients. It is heartbreaking to hear their stories.
Among his victims was a Burntwood woman who was conned by Paterson after he advised her she needed surgery in order to avoid full-blown breast cancer. A Cheslyn Hay woman was convinced into having two unnecessary operations which left her unable to breastfeed.
We still do not know the motives behind Paterson’s grotesque acts, although it was suggested in court that he may have wanted to maintain an image as a busy and successful surgeon. The chance to earn extra money by doing the operations and subsequent follow-up consultations may also have played a part.
What we do know is that this evil man was not acting in the best interests of his patients. Paterson simply preyed on their long-term fears. Tragically, there were hundreds of other victims. The NHS has paid almost £10 million in compensation to his victims, while more than 600 private patients will pursue civil action against him later this year.
Complaints about Paterson had been made for years, but managers at the NHS trust that employed him ‘preferred good news to true news’, according to a report from 2013.
It meant he was allowed to carry on performing operations for several years despite serious concerns raised about him by other staff.
We welcome the sentence, which reflects the gravity of the crimes Paterson committed.
Our thoughts are with his victims.
It is crucial that our NHS prevents this from happening again.
Painful though it is for the legions of decent, honest NHS workers, there are sadly one or two among them who are not fit to practice. We know that in Paterson’s case there were managers and colleagues who had concerns about him but did not report him.
We can only hope that in future staff react swiftly when they have issues with one of their colleagues.
There is also an important lesson for any of us facing medical treatment. If in any doubt, seek a second opinion.
